Jan. 28, 2002 -- SAS Institute, the leader in business intelligence (BI), announced today that it has achieved compatibility with Java(TM) 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) v 1.3.

J2EE is a platform-independent development environment from Sun Microsystems for developing, building and deploying Web-based enterprise applications. J2EE-based applications - including those built on the latest version of J2EE, version 1.3 - continue to grow in importance because of their flexibility and scalability within the enterprise.

In today's complex and changing business environment, companies need business intelligence applications - for customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM), and other mission-critical areas - that can pull data from multiple sources around the globe, cleanse and organize this data, and through analytics, turn it into intelligence. This intelligence answers specific business questions and solves specific business needs, which can be measured in the bottom-line.

AppDev Studio: the first SAS solution to be J2EE-certified

SAS' AppDev Studio, the first SAS solution to achieve J2EE-compatibility, provides software developers and system integrators with a powerful, open architecture model for implementing enterprise solutions that exploit the analytical power of SAS software.

"Developers of enterprise BI applications are constantly challenged to quickly and cost-effectively design and build scalable systems that are compatible with multiple platforms and data sources, compliant with industry standards, and successful at meeting the needs of business users within their organizations," said Ralph Galantine, product marketing line manager for J2EE at Sun. "Now with SAS' AppDev Studio being J2EE v 1.3 compatible, developers can tap the power of SAS data management and analytic solutions and the flexible architecture of J2EE v 1.3 to meet this challenge."

"Applications based on J2EE help companies leverage their existing investment in IT infrastructure by building on it and growing and adjusting with the enterprise, thus minimizing risk," said Don Hatcher, worldwide director of technology strategy at SAS. "With J2EE-compatible SAS solutions like AppDev Studio, organizations can quickly develop and deploy Web-based SAS applications that deliver critical intelligence throughout their enterprises. For example, these applications might help a company manage supplier relationships to ensure supplier alignment or alert executives and managers when a key performance indicator is headed in the wrong direction."

Through its webAF component, SAS' AppDev Studio helps developers build Java-based applications that are lightweight, easy to manage, and instantly connect to full SAS software capabilities while seamlessly accessing any data source on any platform. Through its webEIS component, AppDev Studio empowers users throughout an organization to easily create, explore and analyze multidimensional business data through interactive, drillable Web-based charts and tables.

"Today, almost 800 SAS customer sites around the world rely on AppDev Studio as part of their application development strategy," said Mark Torr, senior Java strategist at SAS. "With J2EE compatibility added to SAS' expertise in data management and analytics, 25 years of experience meeting customer needs, and other key differentiators in the BI space, we expect this number to rise."

SAS & Sun - Partner Compatibility

The J2EE v 1.3 standard was developed with broad input from the community and software industry leaders who worked together to define the specification. In addition to SAS, a Sun Global Alliance Partner, Sun's J2EE partners include database providers, and middleware and tool vendors.

SAS first ported its product set to the Sun operating environment in 1989. Since that time, the two companies have worked closely to integrate SAS software solutions with Sun's hardware platforms and development environments. For several years, SAS and Sun have worked together to maximize the benefits of Sun's Java technology. Since Web-enabled tools are a flexible, low-cost way to provide remote and distributed data management and analytics via corporate intranets or the Web, Java and J2EE technologies can help organizations quickly and efficiently develop customized SAS applications.

About SAS

SAS provides software and services that enable customers to transform data from all areas of their business into intelligence. SAS solutions help organizations make better, more informed decisions and maximize customer, supplier, and organizational relationships. Solutions from SAS, the world's largest privately held software company, are used at more than 37,000 business, government and university sites around the world. Customers include 98 of the Fortune 100 and 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies. For 25 years, SAS has been giving our customers The Power to Know(TM). For more information, visit www.sas.com.

Note: For more information about Java technologies and the J2EE specification visit www/java.sun.com and jcp.org/jsr/detail/58.jsp.

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java and J2EE are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.(R)indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

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    CONTACT: SAS Institute, Cary
             Mike Nemecek, 919/531-5140; Mike.Nemecek@sas.com
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Source: SAS Institute